A White Oak High School graduate was one of three N.C. National Guard soldiers killed in Afghanistan Monday.

The bodies of Sgt. Jeremy F. Hardison, 23, of Maysville, along with Sgt. Thomas Jefferson Butler IV, of Wilmington, and Sgt. Donna R. Johnson, of Raeford, were scheduled be returned to the U.S. via Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday night, according to a press release from Dover Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operation.

Officials with the N.C. National Guard public affairs said details of how the soldiers died could not be released until later Tuesday evening.

But Hardison is believed to have been killed when a Taliban suicide bomber rammed a motorcycle packed with explosives into a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol on Monday, killing 14 people including the three Americans.

Reports indicate three other soldiers were injured and an Afghan interpreter was killed.

The bomber struck the mixed police and military patrol shortly after they got out of their vehicles to walk through a market area in the eastern city of Khost.

Hardison attended White Oak High School and North Carolina State University, according to a Facebook page in his name. Friends took to his Facebook page to pay their respects Tuesday.

“RIP Hardison. Its crazy that our paths crossed because of this war and now our paths end because of it,” a fellow soldier posted. “You will be missed. You will be remembered as a hero and a great man. You died fighting for something that most of America will never understand. At Ease soldier your mission is complete.”

Hardison was living in Greensboro before being deployed. His widow, Brittni Hardison is a Greensboro native. She flew to Philadelphia on Monday to be at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the return of her husband's body, according to WFMY in Greensboro. He is also survived by his parents, Jerry and Teresa Hardison.

Butler, who grew up in Hampstead, is a 2006 graduate of Topsail High. He indicates on his Facebook page he attended Cape Fear Community College in 2010 for criminal justice. He and his wife Holly Gause Butler married in November 2008, according to her Facebook page. Their son, Thomas Jefferson Butler V, was born on March 12.

According to the Carolina Beach Police Department, Butler worked as staff duty personnel at the Ft. Fisher National Guard Training Center in Kure Beach.

Capt. Rick Scoggins, with the N.C. National Guard Public Affairs Office, said the N.C. National Guard has 150 soldiers deployed to Afghanistan.

Hardison and Butler were assigned to the 514th Military Police Company out of Winterville. They deployed to Afghanistan Aug. 13.

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Updated at 4:57 p.m.

A Maysville man was one of three N.C. National Guard soldiers killed in Afghanistan Monday.

Page 2 of 2 - Sgt. Jeremy F. Hardison, of Maysville, was killed along with Sgt. Thomas Jefferson Butler IV, of Wilmington, and Sgt. Donna R. Johnson, of Raeford, according to a press release from Dover Air Force Base.

Officials with N.C. National Guard public affairs said details of how the soldiers died could not be released until later Tuesday evening, but they posted on their Facepook page earlier in the day that “There has been an incident in Afghanistan involving NCNG Soldiers. If you have not been notified your Soldier was involved then your Soldier was not. More details will follow later today.”

Hardison attended White Oak High School and North Carolina State University, according to his Facebook page.

Friends took to the page to pay their respects Tuesday.

“RIP Hardison. Its crazy that our paths crossed because of this war and now our paths end because of it,” said Adam Karlan, a fellow soldier. “You will be missed. You will be remembered as a hero and a great man. You died fighting for something that most of America will never understand. At Ease soldier your mission is complete.”

Hardison is survived by his wife, Britni Leigh Hardison and parents Jerry and Teresa Hardison.

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A Maysville man was among three N.C. National Guard soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Monday.

According to a press release from the Dover Air Force Base Mortuary, Sgt. Jeremy F. Hardison of Maysville was killed, along with Sgt. Thomas Jefferson Butler IV, 25, of Wilmington and Sgt. Donna R. Johnson of Raeford.

Lt. Col. Robert Carver, director of public affairs for the N.C. National Guard, said the details of the incident involving the three could not be released at this time.

Tuesday afternoon Carver posted on the N.C. Guard's Facebook and Twitter pages, “There has been an incident in Afghanistan involving NCNG Soldiers. If you have not been notified your Soldier was involved then your Soldier was not. More details will follow later today.”